


Is There A Saving Throw To Avoid Catching Feelings For Your Best Friend?

by Sleigh



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fire Emblem: Fates References, First Kiss, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:49:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23423464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sleigh/pseuds/Sleigh
Summary: Owain says he loves Inigo... but he says it while in character during their dnd campaign. The fake(?) confession is enough to make Inigo rethink his own feelings for Owain, but with college looming and his days with his friends numbered, Inigo has limited time either get it together, or mess things up forever.
Relationships: Azur | Inigo/Eudes | Owain, background Severa/Cynthia
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	Is There A Saving Throw To Avoid Catching Feelings For Your Best Friend?

“I love you.”

Owain says it so suddenly, and with so much conviction that Inigo’s heart catches in his chest. He stops breathing and strangely feels like he might start crying.

Owain gently brushes his fingertips against Inigo’s cheek. He takes an unsteady breath. “I’m sorry I can’t stay with you. I’m sorry I can’t help you slay Anakos.” He pauses for a moment that feels impossibly long. “But I’ll always be with you, Laslow. Always. I will--” Owain lifts his other hand to brush a non-existent tear from Inigo’s cheek. “I will always love you. I swear it.”

Inigo opens his mouth, but he can’t find a single word to say. He suddenly feels very hot and dizzy, and his mouth has gone dry. The longer Owain stares at him, waiting for him to say something, the more pressured Inigo feels, the more he feels like he’s about to become a case of spontaneous human combustion. “I--” he finally managed to choke out, his voice sounding strangled and too high pitched. “Um--”

Owain sighs and frowns. “You took too long. Odin Dark dies from blood loss.” Owain gracelessly rolls out of his folding chair onto the shag carpet, dramatically slings his arm across his forehead and goes still. “May the bards sing of my memory, since Laslow of the Azure Skies has nothing to say himself!”

“Hey, listen--” Inigo argues. Suddenly too many words are coming to him at once, which is a whole new problem. “You put me on the spot! Since when was Odin in love with Laslow, that came out of nowhere!”

“Stay in character!” Owain says. “And anyway, he loved him the whole time. I had a whole confession planned for when we confronted Anakos but,” he gestured vaguely. “Twas not in the stars. Anyway, someone please throw me a wheat thin.”

Inigo opens his mouth, but Severa interrupts him. “Can it. Owain is dead, who cares, lets just keep going.”

Owain sits up and says, “How can you say that about Odin Dark?” and the wheat thin Cynthia tries to toss at him bounces off his forehead. “I worked really hard on--”

“Okay, I think we’re at a good place to stop,” Morgan says, raising her voice over the brewing argument. “Everyone write down our initiative so nobody forgets. We’ll pick up here next week.”

Cynthia whines. “In the middle of a fight? Right after Odin died? That’s too sad!”

Morgan already starts shuffling her dice back into her bag, and closes her manual with a decisive snap. “It’s already almost 8, it’s time to stop. Two more weeks of school and then we can play whenever we want, let’s all hang in there!”

Inigo hates how his hands shake when he picks up his dice. He hates the suspicious grin Morgan gives him when she catches his eye. 

Inigo watches with jealousy as Severa pulls out of the driveway with her cool car and her much less cool girlfriend bouncing around in the passenger's seat. Cynthia turns up the music so loud that the whole neighborhood will get to hear What Is Love by Twice. He almost wishes he would’ve asked for a ride, but he figured he’d better not to save his eardrums. 

But no ride home meant biking home with Owain.

Inigo had known Owain his entire life. His mom was friends with Owain’s moms, and they lived right across the street from each other. He felt like he’d grown up in Owain’s house just as much as he’d lived in his own.

All of that meant there was absolutely no reason he should be feeling as awkward as he was right now.

As they peel out of the driveway onto the secluded road, Owain is too busy sulking over Odin’s death to say anything. For once, Inigo doesn’t want to be left alone with his thoughts. He tries to focus on anything other than how he felt when Owain stared into his eyes, how electric Owain’s fingertips felt against his skin. He watches the streetlights snap on. He listens to the crunch of leaves under his tires. He takes deep breaths of pine and fresh cut grass. He watches the sky fade into shades of pink and orange. He--

“Hey, Inigo?” 

Inigo speeds up a little, as if he could ever out-bike Owain anyway. His backpack suddenly feels heavier against his back. He tries to center himself again. He focuses on the ch-ch-ch noise of a sprinkler in a front lawn, of the cool evening air blowing through his hair. He counts the mailboxes when they enter their subdivision. He listens to the symphony of crickets as they start to emerge for the night.

“Inigo? Did you hear me?”

Inigo swallows hard. “Sorry, what?” Owain catches up to him but he doesn’t look over at him. He pretends he’s looking out for rocks or potholes or a raccoon that might skitter into the road. Safety first, or something.

“Hey, um, it--” 

There is something gut-wrenchingly scary about an Owain who can’t come up with something to say. Inigo focuses harder on not looking over at him, as if Owain isn’t really there as long as he can’t see him. When he swallows, his throat feels tight.

“Did I make you uncomfortable earlier? Be honest.”

Inigo plays dumb, innocently staring down the road for those rogue raccoons. “When would I have been uncomfortable?”

Owain pauses for a moment, letting his bike glide and he flexes and unflexes his grip on the handlebars. “You know. When, uh. When Odin confessed to Laslow.”

Inigo tries to laugh, light and airy. It comes out sounding nervous. “Oh, that? Of course not. I was just surprised.” It’s partly true, but Inigo knows damn well there’s a lot more to it than that. He hopes Owain doesn’t realize that too.

“You mean it?” Owain says, something so soft and vulnerable about his tone that it makes Inigo want to slam on the breaks and hug, him like he’s a cute puppy who hurt its paw.

“I do. I thought it was a great twist. Very clever.”

Owain groans, and the reaction surprises Inigo so much that it actually breaks his concentration. He looks over to see Owain’s brows furrowed, his cheeks red as he stares down at the ground. “It wasn’t supposed to be a twist at all! Odin was in love with him the whole time, you just weren’t paying attention.”

“Wait, what? Since--” Inigo notices his own mailbox and slams on the breaks, nearly biking past his house. He’d been driving on autopilot and lost track of time. It was already nearly dark, and fireflies had already emerged from the bushes. “Since when?”

Owain slows much more gracefully to a stop. “I just told you, it was the whole time.” Owain pulls up next to Inigo, shaking his head, then smiling down at him from that one infuriating inch he’d managed to gain over Inigo. “Anyway, thanks for not freaking out or anything. See you later.”

Something in his head tells him to stop but Inigo reaches out and grabs onto Owain’s sleeve. “Hey, hold up.”

Owain turns back to him, an expectant smile on his face. There’s something about the dying sunlight, the orange glow of the streetlights, the galaxy of fireflies behind Owain that make him look so radiant, so perfectly beautiful and-- Inigo is afraid to try to define this feeling. He hesitates.

“I-- Why did you decide to make Odin fall in love with Laslow?”

Owain laughs, then grins. His smile is so bright and warm, his eyes full of so much happiness. “It just felt right,” he says warmly, with complete confidence. “Night.” 

Owain turns back to his home, and Inigo doesn’t reach for him again. He has so much he wants to say, but no words to label any of his feelings with.

\---

Since the dawn of their group friendship, friday night had always been Frightful Fridays. (as the commercials always referred to it, “two frightful flicks for the price of just one!”) The drive-in on the edge of town would always show two cheesy horror films one after another at midnight after their regular showing, and since they’d started going together their freshman year, all of them had agreed that Kaiju nights were the best. 

This friday was about as perfect a night anyone could ask for: warm, comfortable weather, clear skies, and Godzilla vs Mothra and Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla back to back. Back in the day, there was nothing any of them would’ve missed this night for.

Instead, it was only Owain and Inigo tonight. Morgan had been skipping for months, repeatedly making the ridiculous claim that “getting into Yale is more important than Frightful Fridays.” Cynthia and Severa could always be relied on to make out in the back seat during the boring kaiju-less parts of the movies, but they both passed tonight, insisting that they needed to cram for finals.

Ten minutes into Godzilla vs Mothra, Inigo started thinking that maybe they were right. Maybe he wasn’t thinking about the future. Maybe he was too grown up for this. Looking around at the other cars and seeing more people getting frisky than watching the movie didn’t make him any more confident in his life choices.

“I like Mothra best when she’s really fluffy,” Owain says. Both of their seats are pushed all the way back, with their feet kicked up on the dash. If they leave a single footprint, Owain’s mom will throw a fit, and Inigo really wishes they were here in Severa’s car instead.

Inigo makes a noncommittal noise and stares off into the trees away from the screen. He can’t seem to focus.

“Do you know what you’re going to do?” he asks.

“About what?”

“No, I mean--” Inigo tilts his head back and closes his eyes. “Not anything about Mothra, sorry. About the future, I mean. What do you want to do like, for a living.”

Owain shrugs. “Who knows.”

“What about college?” 

A kaiju roar bursts from the speaker hooked to the window, and a few people in neighboring cars cheer. 

Owain shifts in his seat. “Creative writing, probably at the same school as my parents. Why?”

“Isn’t that out of state?”

“Yeah.”

Both of them fall into silence. Owain watches the screen, but Inigo stares up at the ceiling, chewing on his lower lip. The sound of torn down power lines echo through their speaker, lots of electric crackles and screaming. Inigo can’t muster up any excitement to watch the carnage.

“You okay?” Owain asks.

“Yeah, why?”

Inigo realizes Owain is looking at him, and looks back at him. Owain frowns and asks, “What’s wrong?”

Inigo bites back an offended huff. “Nothing, I said I’m fine.” 

“You’re not fine,” Owain insists. “Battra’s blowing things up and you don’t even care.”

Inigo lets out the offended huff this time. He glares forward at the screen, and almost gets annoyed that Battra is offscreen again in favor of some humans. “I’m fine, okay? I’m just thinking. And I don’t want to talk about it, so don’t ask.”

Owain watches him for a moment, and Inigo knows Owain doesn’t believe a word he says. He finally looks back at the screen and they fall into an uncomfortable silence. Usually Inigo loves quiet time with Owain the most, but right now he hates it. Something in his chest aches.

“You should apply to the same school,” Owain murmurs, eyes focused on the screen. “I know they have a dance program, I already checked. We could live together. It’d be fun to stick together.” When Inigo is silent, he keeps going. “We could even have our own Frightful Fridays. I…” 

Battra re-appears, and they fall into more silence. Inigo feels like he’s suffocating. He feels like he needs to roll down all the windows, but they’re already down. The girl in the car next to him has now climbed on top of her boyfriend, and Inigo feels even more anxious. 

“Are you asking me to follow you across the country? You want us to stay together?”

The current scene is quiet enough that Inigo can hear Owain’s sharp inhale, can hear the couple next to him getting friskier, can hear his own heart pounding. The silence between them stretches on, through another long kaiju howl. Owain only speaks again minutes later when the action dies down.

“Yeah, I am. And I do.”

He doesn’t look over, but when Inigo glances back at him Owain’s shoulders are tense. “I just--” Owain starts again. “If you’re still undecided and it’s something you think you’d like, I’d be really happy if you came with me.”

Something in Inigo’s chest feels painful and his breathing feels short. He’s almost certain this is a heart attack and he needs to call for help. Instead he takes a deep, steady breath. He clenches his hands into fists. He knows in his head that two friends going to college together is totally normal, but in his heart he feels like he’s putting a significant, extra weight onto this but he doesn’t know if Owain is doing the same.

“Yeah, I-- yeah.” Inigo focuses hard on the screen to avoid Owain’s gaze. “I like that idea. Let’s stay together.”

Neither of them bring it up again, and both of them are asleep before Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla even starts. When the drive-in employee wakes Inigo up to tell him it’s over and it's time to go home, Owain is still asleep, halfway onto Inigo’s seat with his head rested against the crook of Inigo’s neck. He’s warm, his hair soft against Inigo’s jaw and his breath hot against Inigo’s collarbone. All at once, Inigo isn’t so sure that he can do this anymore.

\---

Morgan: I am postponing dnd :^(  
Morgan: BUT  
Morgan: do not fret  
Morgan: I have arranged something very exciting  
Morgan: (please imagine a drumroll here)  
Morgan: DND ON LOCATION!!!!!!!!! :^)  
Severa: what the fuck it's 3am graduation is tomorrow go the fuck to SLEEP  
Morgan: shush  
Morgan: anyway  
Morgan: in ONE WEEK  
Morgan: I have gotten the keys to my aunt emm’s guest house while she’s away on some diplomatic thing  
Owain: HEY WAIT NO FAIR I’VE ASKED LIKE THREE TIMES AND THEY NEVER LET ME GO TO AUNT EMM’S GUEST HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
Morgan: silence, ghost, let me finish  
Owain: D:  
Morgan: ok since you people keep interrupting my DM monologue long story short is next saturday we’re driving out to the country to my aunt’s place and we have the keys to her guest house on the lake and I’m going to decorate it to give us a VERY COOL SPOOKY ON LOCATION DND FINALE! The siege of Valla will take place ~on location~ and also severa I need you to drive us  
Morgan: that is all, sleep well my little pawns because you will soon meet your fate...  
Severa: wait hold up what the FUCK morgan

Graduation felt like an important day to remember, but for Inigo it went by in a sleepy blur. He’d been woken up repeatedly in the middle of the night by texts until he finally got fed up and turned his phone off. Then he nearly ran late because his alarm was on his phone, and he barely had time to make himself presentable before dashing out the door.

Inigo had always expected graduation to be some touching, bittersweet thing, but all of his expectations were shattered over and over. The air conditioning had gone out in their high school gym, so it was a sweaty affair more than anything else. Morgan’s valedictorian speech was probably beautiful, but hardly any of it could be heard over the noise of the industrial fans brought in to keep students from passing out. There were so few graduates in their small town high school that the whole event felt like it was over as soon as it started, and in the end Inigo was left with nothing but an uncomfortable pointy hat and the feeling that something important had just passed him by. 

Of course his mother cried and took far too many photos of him. When he finally met up with his friends, they were still caught up in their own photoshoots. Somehow watching all the cheesy photos made him feel a sense of painful melancholy he’d managed to avoid throughout the actual ceremony. 

He watched Morgan beaming in all her extra awards and medals and tassels while she posed with her little brother and her older sister, while one of her dads snapped photos and the other cried. He watched Severa pose begrudgingly for photos with her mother, and watched as Cynthia started crying in her mother’s arms during the photos, wailing a thousand blubbery “I love you”s. He watched Owain get pictures with his brother, with all of his cousins, and when he watched Owain smile with Brady’s arm slung over his shoulder, while he watched Lucina carefully adjust Owain’s hat like a mother hen, he finally felt like something had ended and something new had begun.

“Everyone, get together for a photo!”

Inigo didn’t know who made the request, but he was quickly pulled into a group with all of his friends. Morgan, who saved his sorry butt in their group project in middle school, Severa who trash talked customers with him at their part time job, Cynthia who rejected his advances but insisted on being his friend instead, and of course, Owain, who had been his whole world since he was old enough to walk. Their dnd Thursdays, their Frightful Fridays, their late night adventures to Waffle House, all of that was hanging in the balance now. After today, none of it would ever be the same. Without warning, he began to cry.

“Aww, Inigo!” Lissa cooed, and Inigo dissolved into a sobbing mess. 

Owain immediately pulled him into a tight hug. He could hear Cynthia and Morgan both fretting over him, could hear a vague disgusted noise from Severa, and all of it just made him sadder. He couldn’t understand how it was possible to miss people so badly when they were standing right next to him. Owain kept rubbing his back as Inigo cried against his shoulder. He was so warm, and so gentle when he lifted his hand and ran his fingers through Inigo’s hair. Despite it all, Inigo felt like he would be okay as long as Owain never let go of him. 

He knew this would happen eventually; he always knew it. Morgan was off to Yale, Cynthia was heading off for her equestrian scholarship, Severa had her own plans. He knew that. He’d accepted that. But suddenly he was starting to think that if Owain let go of him now, if Owain hadn’t asked him to come with him those few nights ago, he would truly fall apart. 

It would hurt, but he could leave home. He could part ways with his friends. But not all of them. Not Owain. 

Because he loved him. 

When the realization hit, it felt like the final piece of a puzzle clicking into place.

And it was terrifying.

\---

The trip to the guest house was four hours long, and Cynthia was given the aux cord. “This is Girls Generation weather!” She loudly announced while they were still back in town, rolling down all the windows and shouting the words to every single song from the passenger’s seat. 

Inigo was stuck in the middle of the backseat, wedged between Morgan who was in the middle of a book, and Owain who was playing Monster Hunter. They were both so focused, Inigo was pretty sure neither would even notice if they got into a terrible fiery accident. 

“GIRLS’ GENERATION MAKE YOU FEEL THE HEAT!” Cynthia shouted from the front, the volume so high that the bass shook the car and Inigo’s ears were starting to buzz. He stared out the window at the rolling fields and tried not to get overwhelmed by the whole situation. They passed a cattle farm. A corn field. Another corn field. What was that one, soy? Oh yeah, and he was in love with Owain.

No matter how desperately he wanted to forget it, he was in love with Owain. He was still reeling from the realization that the emotion he’d been labeling as “friendship” had been love for ages and he was too stupid to realize it. He was suddenly rethinking every conversation, every touch that had passed between them. He was suddenly wondering why Morgan had smiled at him like that during their last session. He was terrified that she knew.

Cynthia shouted, “KISSING YOU, OH MY LOVE!”

And Morgan said, “I leave for Yale in four days.”

Everyone fell silent, and for a moment, nobody moved. Cynthia finally reached over and paused the music. “Wait, what?”

“I’m sorry,” Morgan said, hiding behind her book. “I’ve been lying. I got in while ago. I accepted an internship this summer, so I’ll be out there until I start classes. I’m really sorry, I should’ve said something sooner, but I didn’t want to have to say it.”

Owain has looked up from the game to stare at Morgan. “You mean it? Really?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.” Morgan seems to shrink even smaller in her seat. “This road trip was just a last minute idea, I wanted us to do one last fun thing together.”

Everyone falls silent again before Severa finally breaks the silence. “Quit being assholes, congratulate her. Good job, Morgan.”

“Yeah,” Inigo says, forcing a smile through his stunned silence. “That’s pretty amazing. You’re finally getting out of here.”

“This is just your destiny,” Owain says. “You’re way too smart for this town, anyway… although I kind of wish you would’ve at least told me, since we’re family…”

Thunder rumbles overhead and muffles Cynthia’s reply. Cynthia glances over at Severa wide-eyed, but Severa waves her hand dismissively. 

“Just some storms rolling through, relax. But you’d better roll up your windows.”

\---

It turned out that the storms ended up being much more serious than the news had predicted. Rain turned into storms, and storms turned into hail, and Severa decided to call it quits. 

They pulled into the first motel they found, in an absolute dive in a town that had nothing else to offer except a McDonalds, a strip club and a grain elevator with rooster murals on it. They all sprinted into the lobby to avoid the hail. The hotel didn’t look promising, with moldy ceiling tiles and dead ferns drooping over the sides of their pots. A tube TV in the corner was showing a weather alert, and the map showed the whole county under a tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm warning. 

“Well shit,” Severa muttered. 

“Assume you’re here for a room?” The clerk at the desk looked bored, and he flipped through Great Expectations as if the sky wasn’t throwing a fit right outside his window. “How many rooms?”

Morgan took charge, dragging herself away from the forecast up to the front desk. “That depends. How many beds do your rooms have?”

“Just one,” the clerk said, not looking up. 

“Just--” Morgan began to speak, but seemed to realize the answer to their question at the same time as Inigo. When he looked up at the rates, the prices were listed hourly and nightly. So it was that kind of place…

“Well then,” Morgan said, frowning. A bright flash of lightning cracked outside, the lights indoors flickered. “Two rooms, please. For the night.”

“Good choice,” the clerk said, getting to his feet. “Nobody should be on the roads on a day like this.”

\---

Morgan charged the rooms to her dad’s card, saying “he’ll probably understand.” They were handed two sets of keys and directions to the basement, just in case the storm got more serious. 

Morgan declared that the boys had to share a room and the girls got to have their own, and Inigo was already trying to think of his argument for why he should get the bed and Owain should be stuck on the couch. For now, they all piled into the girl’s room. It had a suspicious chemical smell, cigarette holes in the sheets, and a leak in the bathroom ceiling. Inigo guessed anyone who rented this place for a few hours probably wasn’t concerned with details like that.

“This is fine,” Morgan said, right as another loud bolt cracked overhead. “It’s fine. We’ll rest here tonight and then we’ll leave in the morning. We’re not that far from Emm’s, we’ll just do the campaign in the evening and then head back the next morning. It’s fine.” Things were clearly not fine and Morgan was clearly feeling very stressed out.

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Inigo said. “We can charge some pay-per-view porn to your dad’s card. It’ll be fun.”

“This is why we’re not sharing a room with you,” Severa snapped. “Sicko.”

They didn’t pass the time watching porn, and instead spent their time watching gameshows and daytime tv. Inigo pretended not to be flustered when Owain said next to him on the floor during an episode of Maury, so close their arms were touching. His heart was racing and he knew it wasn’t because he wanted to know who the father of Alicia’s baby was going to be.

They passed the time in an almost-joyful blur, eating vending machine snacks and yelling answers at Family Feud contestants until the familiar pounding of hail came beating down on the roof, and barely a moment later the TV made a popping noise and all the lights went out.

Cynthia had fallen asleep but bolted awake at the noise. “Huh? What?”

“Power’s out,” Severa sighed. “Now what?”

The group came to the consensus that they should sleep early, then wake up early the next morning to head out. Inigo was forced to confront the awkwardness he’d been avoiding this whole time.

\---

“I want the bed,” Inigo said, a whole speech prepared in his mind about why he deserved it. 

Owain just tilted his head like Inigo was being stupid. “Okay?”

“Okay? You’re not going to fight me for it?”

Owain shrugged, as if the real answer was obvious, which it was. “It’s big enough to share. Let us not fight, on a night such as this!”

They didn’t fight, but also, Inigo didn’t sleep.

The bed was barely a full size, the clerk was a liar when he called it a queen. Even curled up in the fetal position, Inigo was so close to Owain that he felt like he was on fire. (and maybe, he actually was with how humid the awful room was)

Owain wasn’t really stretched out, but even with them both trying to be mindful of space, their backs were pressed together. Owain had fallen asleep easily, and was out within minutes, despite the suspiciously crunchy sheets and the itchy blanket. 

On the other hand, Inigo was a nervous wreck. Every centimeter of him that was touching Owain was driving him nuts. He knew perfectly well that he could just get up and sleep on the couch, but no matter how much he hated being so close to Owain, he loved it even more. There was something so sweetly domestic about the entire situation that made his chest ache. He listened to Owain’s soft breathing over the sheets of rain slamming down on the roof, felt the gentle rise and fall of his chest. He could get used to his, could get comfortable and happy with this, and that was a dangerous thought. It was dangerous how much he truly wanted it.

But his anxious thoughts were racing, and despite him wanting to cling to this forever, he was afraid to ask for it. He and Owain had been best friends for so long that they were more like two halves of one whole than separate people. His past, present, future-- all of it had Owain at the center of his universe, had Owain as the radiant, beautiful sun he was always drawn in to. And despite all of Inigo’s whining and flightiness and resistance to Owain’s whimsy, Owain still continued to shine for him, day in and day out. Inigo was not chasing after Owain; none of their friendship was one-sided. Owain was the sun and Inigo was the sky and together they were a strange but perfect harmony. 

And sometimes looking back through the years at all the times when Inigo caught Owain looking at him, smiling at him like he was the sun, Inigo now wondered if they could turn their friendship into something more.

But if anything could sever that connection between them, Inigo felt like that could be it. If he gambled wrong, if he took one step too far, he could plummet off some invisible ledge and strain their friendship forever. He knew Owain wouldn’t be angry or annoyed by his confession-- he would feel overwhelmingly guilty for not returning Inigo’s feelings. And that would be infinitely worse.

But when he remembered Owain’s hand on his cheek, the tenderness of his voice when he (had it really been Odin, or was Owain saying it from his own heart?) said he loved him, Inigo started to reconsider his odds yet again.

Inigo took a slow, shuddering breath. He focused on Owain’s back against his, on how warm he felt, on how peaceful and precious this whole moment was. Maybe he could do this again someday, but maybe not. He tried to memorize every moment, every feeling he was feeling, just in case everything fell apart.

\---

Inigo woke up thinking he’d had a good, long rest. In reality, he’d barely slept an hour and a half. Owain had rolled over at some point and curled up against him, his head nestled in the crook of Inigo’s neck and his arm flung across Inigo’s chest. His legs were tangled with Inigo’s and his hand twitched a bit like he was dreaming about a sword fight. He was warm, and heavy and lovely and perfect and Inigo thought if he stayed another moment he’d either suffocate or lose his mind.

He gingerly untangled himself from Owain, taking slow and steady breaths. He couldn’t handle this when he already had so much on his mind, has so many worries about their relationship. Sleeping next to each other lit him up like a forest fire, but cuddling made him feel like a nuclear bomb just seconds from detonation. If they stayed like that, he wasn’t sure he could keep playing at just being friends.

Inigo slipped out of the room onto the veranda, not really sure where he wanted to go. The power was back and all the lights were on outside, so he made a mental note to turn the AC on when he came back. It was still raining and the air outside was still heavy, with the humid electricity that always hung in the air during these kinds of storms. It had cooled down, but the wind felt like it was sticking to his skin like sweat.

He wandered down the veranda with no destination in mind, he just wanted to get space and think. He made his way to the end of the path and nearly turned around before he saw Morgan sitting on the rusted metal stairs, looking thoughtfully out into the heavy rain. He climbed the stairs and sat down next to her, and they stayed in a peaceful silence before he worked up the courage to speak.

“Can I ask you something serious?” Inigo asked, tapping his fingers on his knees. Distant lightning flashes lit up the sky briefly, then left them with nothing but the lights from the dingy town and the dingy motel, glowing a sad, weak orange against the murky darkness.

“Shoot,” Morgan said, eyes unfocused as she watched the storm move farther and farther away.

“Owain,” Inigo swallowed. “Does… does he like me?”

Morgan looks over at him and raises an eyebrow, then turns back to the rain and chuckles. “Why not ask him that? Why me?”

Inigo squirmed. He stared down at his hands. “That’s a pretty awkward thing to ask. It’s easier to ask you.” He swallowed hard, his hands feeling cold and clammy. He shouldn’t have been embarrassed asking Morgan this, and yet...

“Hmm.” Morgan tilted her head to the side. Thunder rumbled above them. “Why? Do you like him?”

“No way,” Inigo said in a panic, his voice jumping up an octave in anxiety. “No, no, I mean, it’s Owain. Seriously? Never. Of course not. That’d be so weird.” He said it so quickly he wasn’t sure Morgan even caught most of it.

Morgan gave him a look he couldn’t decipher. “Relax, it’s just a question.”

“No. I know. You’re right.” Inigo felt like he was developing stress ulcers at this point. “I’m just wondering. I can’t figure him out.” He wrung his hands and avoided eye contact by staring out into the darkness. He felt cold all the way down his spine.

“He’s not hard to figure out. Just ask him.” Morgan said. Her dark eyes continued searching Inigo’s face even after he looked away. “But don’t ask him if you think you won’t like his answer. Don’t do that to him.”

“Wh-What’s that supposed to mean?” 

Morgan ignored the question. “Inigo, I mean this in the kindest way possible, but I was having some great thinking time out here. Like, stewing up some seriously brilliant ideas. So if you don’t mind, I’d love to get back to that.”

“Yeah, sure,” Inigo said, shakily standing back up. The storm felt like it was clinging to his skin, and suddenly he didn’t feel like wandering anymore. He wanted to go get a sweater and also maybe throw up and contemplate what the hell Morgan was insinuating. He made it halfway back to their room before he saw Owain is outside too, and he called out to him.

“Hey! Hold the door for me!” 

Owain jumped. He held the door open but turned away from Inigo and avoided eye contact. When Inigo stepped back inside, the air conditioning was already on. Something felt inexplicably off, like this world had just tilted a few degrees but he didn’t know how it happened.

“Oh yeah, you already saw the power is back,” Inigo said to fill the empty space between them. Something was wrong.

Owain says nothing.

“By the way, what were you doing out there?” Inigo said, his nerves creeping into his tone. “You were asleep when I left.”

Owain took a long moment to respond. “I woke up and you weren’t here,” Owain said, his voice strained and unfamiliar. “I looked for you, but then I found you talking to Morgan, so it’s fine. I’m glad you’re okay.”

Inigo felt like he’d been dropped off the roof. He felt like he was falling and falling and there was no end in sight. “Owain I--” How much did he hear? “I want--”

“Don’t ask me about it. I was just misunderstanding you. We’ll keep going like nothing happened, okay? Please?”

“Owain--”

Owain finally turned around and his cheeks were red and he still wouldn’t look at Inigo. It felt like a knife in Inigo’s heart, like a thunderbolt running right through him. “I’m gonna stay with the girls, I don’t wanna make things weird for you. And-- and maybe we should reconsider our plan with college. Because... just think about it. Please.”

Owain leaves and the whole time he’s going Inigo desperately wants to say something but his mouth just comes up dry. There’s nothing he can say, and he knows it. He’s left all alone in a too-cold room absolutely hating himself.

\---

Nobody speaks the next morning. They scarcely even look at each other, and Inigo keeps his eyes firmly glued on the floor. 

Inigo accepted that graduating would mean everything in his life was changing. He felt like he was coping with that fairly well, but he was not coping with this. This was not a transition-- this was his life falling apart around him. This was ruining everything with the boy he’d probably loved forever, and knowing he had only himself to blame. 

The rest of the road trip was uncomfortable. Owain took shotgun this time, and Inigo knew it was to avoid having to sit near him. Cynthia’s k-pop playlist was the only sound in the car, the girls singing ‘just step it up, step it up!’ as Severa rolled all the windows down and opened the sunroof. They pass dozens more dairies, corn fields and farms, the car filling with the smell of cows and ragweed and cheatgrass as the wind whips through it. 

Inigo isn’t really paying much attention to any of it anymore.

Emmeryn’s cabin is behind a man-made lake, in a small wooded area. It’s only accessible via a dusty, rarely used road and the only neighbors for miles are surly sheep. Out this far, Inigo knows the stars will look incredible. He can see for miles and miles, the sky is huge and crystal blue, and the trees are filled with singing robins and red-winged blackbirds. He wishes he could enjoy it. 

They step out of the car into the gravel, and the first thing Morgan says is, “Oh no.”

“What,” Severa snaps, but Morgan is already rummaging through the trunk in a panic.

“My backpack,” Morgan says. “Where’s my backpack? Did someone else grab it?”

“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” Severa says.

“It has all the manuals, the dice, my maps, our figures… it has everything…” Morgan runs a hand through her dark hair, eyes wide. “Nobody has seen it? You’re sure?”

Inigo should be upset over this, but frankly he’s already so upset his quota has already been met and he has no emotional capacity left to lament anything else.

“It must be at the hotel,” Cynthia says,” We have to go back.”

Severa pinches the bridge of her nose, and Inigo knows that means she’s holding back something fierce. “Fine. Fine. We have no choice. I guess we’re going back.”

“Here,” Morgan says, tossing Owain the keys. “You wanna hang around here? You were just complaining the other day that Aunt Emm never lets you come hang out here, so now’s your chance.” 

Owain just says, “Oh. Okay,” and it makes Inigo’s heart drop. 

“I’ll stay too,” Inigo says before he can think any better of it. He can feel eyes on him, but he pretends he’s looking at the cabin instead. “I’m kind of carsick. And I love you Cynthia, but I can’t handle anymore Wonder Ladies.”

“That’s Wonder Girls and Ladies Code, they’re two different groups!” 

“Whatever, let’s just go,” Severa huffs. “Whoever wants to go needs to get in now, so we can get this over with.”

\---

The fact that it’s now just the two of them, all alone for a few hours in a secluded cabin, seems like some kind of divine intervention, or the kind of wild fantasy Inigo would have. But if some God or fanfiction author or some other kind of magical force stuck them here to get some action, well, they were going to be disappointed.

Inigo knew they needed to talk, but he couldn’t find it in him to initiate anything. He paced the house for something to do, looking at Emmeryn’s old pictures with Lissa and Chrom. Lissa and Owain smiled the same, and that just brought him back to his problem. He tried going for a walk but was too afraid of getting lost. 

It was a nice cabin. Everything smelled like wood and sage and the furniture was rustic, yet comfortable. The way the sunset reflected off the lake was lovely, the howl of the cicadas in the cottonwood trees was somehow comforting. Inigo really wished he could enjoy it. He wished yesterday just hadn’t happened at all.

The sun melted the sky into vibrant pinks and oranges as night began to fall. Fireflies creeped out of their bushes and puttered through the air, blinking gently as the bats slipped from their roosts to hunt for dinner. Inigo sat in the hammock tied between two maples in the backyard, overlooking the pond. He needed to hurry and say something, but instead his eyes just stung with the beginning of tears.

“Hey, Inigo? Can we talk?” 

Owain’s soft voice startles Inigo so much he nearly flips out of the hammock and chokes out a sob at the same time. He can feel a lump in his throat and a burning in his nose but he tries to fight it as he pats the space next to him on the hammock. “Yeah, of course. Always. Come here.” 

Owain sits next to him with such care that Inigo isn’t sure if he’s afraid of falling off the hammock or afraid to touch Inigo or both. But he sits next to him anyway, which is still some kind of progress. “Are you okay?” Inigo can feel Owain watching him, can feel his warmth from how close he’s sitting, and it makes him feel considerably less okay. 

“I’m sorry,” Inigo blurts out, covering his face with his hand like he’s imitating Owain, but really he’s just embarrassed. “I’m so sorry, Owain.”

Owain raises his eyebrows and keeps watching Inigo from his careful distance. The breeze rustles through the trees and through his hair and he says nothing for a beat before finally responding. “For… what exactly? It’s okay to be sad, my friend! Whatever is troubling you, I--”

“That’s not it,” Inigo says, indignant, and his voice sounds watery and pathetic. “What I said yesterday… that’s what I’m sorry for. I didn’t mean it. It was a lie and worst of all it hurt you, and…”

When Inigo trails off, Owain finally puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder, warm and firm. “Listen. Inigo, it’s… you don’t have to apologize. I will admit it was… difficult to hear, but…” Owain takes a deep breath like he’s gearing up for some bravado, but his voice falls quiet instead. “I’m glad that I know where we stand now. Even if it wasn’t an… ideal way to find out. You can be honest with me about it, I--”

“I like you, Owain,” Inigo drops his hand from his face and finally looks over at Owain, finding Owain looking back at him with wide eyes. “Okay? I like you, Owain! I really like you, way more than as a friend!”

Inigo swears he said it so loud he can hear his voice echoing across the lake, bouncing off the trees. Suddenly everything around feels so quiet, but his ears are ringing and his heart is pounding and his vision feels blurry like he’s about to pass out. 

“You do?” Owain breathes, his hand trembling on Inigo’s shoulder. “You mean it?”

Inigo nods and takes deep breaths to try to ground himself. The fireflies are still lazily orbiting them, the moon is rising and the stars are blinking to life in the sky. The bats sing and chatter as they swoop above them. “Honestly, I… I’m pretty sure I’ve had a crush on you for a long time, but… when you said all that to me as Odin, and when I realized we were all splitting up and when we went on our last Frightful Friday and you were sleeping on me and you looked so… so cute and…”

“Can I kiss you,” Owain murmurs, barely audible over the bats and the birds and crickets and every other creature suddenly coming to life. He moves his hand from Inigo’s shoulder to his jaw, and just barely tilts his chin up so they’re looking each other directly in the eye. 

Inigo doesn’t bother trying to speak and just leans in and kisses Owain instead. 

The scenery might be romantic, but they’re a bit awkward. Owain’s other hand cups Inigo’s cheek and Inigo doesn’t know what to do with his own hands, so one ends up on Owain’s waist and the other scandalously far up his thigh. Inigo tries to guide Owain closer but they’re unbalanced on the hammock and he ends up knocking Owain off-balance and pulling him on top of him instead.

Not what he was after, but… Inigo certainly wasn’t going to complain. 

Later Inigo would wonder if this was Owain’s first kiss too, but in the moment all he could think about was Owain kissing him, and nothing else. It didn’t matter that it was clumsy, that they kept bumping noses and Owain was crushing him a bit and neither of them knew what they were doing with their tongues. With Owain he felt safe to embarrass himself, to make mistakes, and at the same time being with Owain made him feel like nothing was a mistake, because it all led him here. 

“I like you too,” Owain says, kissing the corner of Inigo’s mouth. “You know that, right? I love you.”

Inigo is nearly breathless. “Say it again. Please.” 

Owain grins, leaning his forehead against Inigo’s. “I truly and with all my heart, love and adore you, Inigo,” Owain says, and when he leans in to kiss him again Inigo feels like his whole world is spinning--

Because it is. 

Inigo doesn’t realize they’ve fallen out of the hammock until the wind is knocked out of him and he’s laying next to Owain on his back in the dirt. “Are you--”

He starts to ask, but Owain starts laughing, and it makes Inigo start laughing too, and when they’re laying in the dirt, messy and in love and maybe a bit bruised, the stars finally catch Inigo’s eye. 

The sky is brilliant and vast so far from the city. The milky way stretches through the center of the sky like a soft, foggy swipe of a paintbrush, and there’s more constellations dotting the sky than Inigo thinks he could ever name. Owain reaches and takes his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Inigo is pretty sure there’s a rock somewhere under his back, but he never wants to move from this spot. 

“It’s beautiful,” Inigo murmurs. “Nothing compared to your smile, of course, but still nice.”

Owain laughs again. “You can only use those lines on me if I get to be your boyfriend.”

“Deal,” Inigo says. He reaches up and brushes his hand against Owain’s cheek and Owain grins in the fading light, leaning into the touch. 

Inigo can hear the crunch of gravel as a car pulls into the driveway, but can’t find it in him to feel bothered at the sudden interruption. He has Owain, and he always will. He has all of his best friends in the world here with him, and one brilliant summer left before he has to move on to face the real world. For tonight and tomorrow and every day after, he just wants to savor it as much as he can.

Owain stands first and helps Inigo to his feet, but he doesn’t let go of Inigo’s hand. He beams at Inigo, surrounded by starlight and fireflies. Inigo kisses him one more time before they set off together.

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, my notes are really long! Sorry!
> 
> \- I started this fic almost exactly a year ago. It started out as a labor of love but by the end it just became labor lol. I'm really not happy with it, I know there's lots of issues with the pace and the plot and I know the tenses are all over the place but honestly I'm sick of editing it over and over and I just want to send this baby out into the world already. That said I'm really not looking for any crit on this lol
> 
> \- I started this while really homesick for the midwest, where I lived at this age, and all the places mentioned are based off real life places from where I grew up. The neighborhood, drive in, hotel (and surrounding area) and cabin are all places from really precious memories I have so I'm sad I ran out of steam and couldn't whip this up into something I'm more proud of to do them justice. 
> 
> \- I love kaiju movies a lot so I apologize for the descriptions of Godzilla vs Mothra being way off but I figured most people wouldn't care about the accurarcy so I just did whatever I wanted to make it work for the story lol
> 
> Overall, thank you so much for reading this! It probably would've been left to die in my google docs, but I always get such sweet comments on my owainigo fics that I wanted to send one more out there for everyone still reading this ship. I worked hard on it, so I hope that at least one person will enjoy it and then all of this will be worth it!
> 
> p.s: the kpop songs cynthia is referencing are all actual specific songs. I imagine her being into 2nd gen ggs and cute ggs lol
> 
> songs referenced:  
> \- twice - what is love  
> \- girls generation - the boys  
> \- girls generation - kissing you  
> \- kara - step  
> \- wonder girls - no specific song is mentioned but I was imagining Tell Me  
> \- ladies code - no specific song is mentioned but I was imaginging Pretty Pretty


End file.
